Omega Writers have recently announced the finalists in the 2020 CALEB Award. The finalists had a week to revise their entries based on the first-round feedback, and submit their full manuscript. These are now with the final-round judges, and we will announce the winners in October.
Those who didn’t final will also receive the feedback on their entries in the next two days. (If you don’t, please contact me at caleb [at] omegawriters [dot] org, just in case your email provider has decided to mark the message as spam.)
I got a few questions when I sent the feedback to the finalists, so thought I’d use today’s post to address contest feedback, based on my experience as a contest entrant, judge, and organiser, and my background as a fiction editor.
Here are my five tips for dealing with feedback, good and not-so-good.
1. Consider Your Audience of One
Some Christians write out of obedience to God. Some write as a way to serve God. Either way, God needs to be central in our writing. So we should take our writing to God in the same way as we take the other parts of our lives to God.
That includes feedback from writing contests 🙂
If the feedback is good, we need God to remind us to stay humble (because there will come a day when the feedback isn’t good. Read the one-star reviews for your favourite book if you don’t believe me).
If the feedback isn’t good, we need God to remind us that we’re not doing this thing for ourselves. We’re doing it for Him. As such, there are lessons to learn along the journey … and some of those lessons are hard. Which leads into my next point:
2. Have a Teachable Spirit
One of the lasting learning points from my first writing conference was a pearl of wisdom from Kiwi author Rosie Boom: the importance of having a teachable spirit.
What does this mean?
It means acknowledging that we don’t know everything. It means being prepared to listen to people who know more than us … and less than us. It means being prepared to accept feedback and learn. Because …
3. Feedback is a Gift
Some people enter writing contests to win. That’s one reason. But any contest can only have one winner. If you’re entering to win and only to win, you might be entering for the wrong reason—especially if you’re entering a contest for unpublished manuscripts.
The better reason to enter a writing contest—especially a contest for unpublished authors—is for the feedback.
Unpublished contests are judged blind, which means the judge has no idea who has entered or whose entry they are reading. This means writers get the gift of unbiased feedback, good and not-so-good. No one is telling you they love your manuscript because they’re a personal friend and don’t want to hurt your feelings. If a judge compliments an aspect of your work, it’s because they think it’s worth complimenting.
4. Use the Cookie Test
Feedback can be like being offered a plate of cookies in various flavours: plain, chocolate afghan, ANZAC, oatmeal raisin, gluten free chocolate chip.
I’d probably choose the chocolate afghan with the walnut on top, but someone with a nut allergy might prefer the ANZAC biscuit or the oatmeal raisin. Someone with a gluten intolerance would take the gluten free chocolate chip … unless they also had a dairy intolerance, in which case they might pass on the entire plate.
Feedback is like that plate of cookies. Some feedback is just what you wanted or needed. Some is okay. And some just doesn’t fit your manuscript.
For example, when I entered the ACFW Genesis Award, one of my first-round judges suggested my first-person manuscript might be better told in third-person point of view. As an editor, I know why the judge said this. Third person is the most common point of view. People tend to expect third person and don’t have strong feelings about it.
On the other hand, while some people love first person, others loathe it with a violent passion. Some publishers refuse to consider manuscripts written in first person. As such, writing in first person is more risky, because it limits the number of potential readers. (Writing in a combination of first and third person is even more limiting.)
What the judge didn’t know is that I started writing that manuscript in third person. I hated it. And how could I expect a reader to like something I hated? So I switched to writing in first person. I found the story easier to write, and it flowed better as a story. So I continued with first person, even while knowing that was narrowing my potential readership. It wasn’t that the judge’s feedback was wrong. It was simply wrong for my manuscript.
Another piece of feedback was that I often slipped into telling. When I sat back and looked at my manuscript, this feedback was spot on. As an editor, I generally advise authors to use interior monologue rather than direct thought, as interior monologue is showing while direct thought is telling. This is true, but too much interior monologue can also slip into telling. That’s true whether you’re writing in third person or first person, but is especially a problem with first person. I tightened some of my interior monologue, and the story was stronger for it.
5. Check Before You Change
But how do you know what to change and what to leave? To find out, you’re going to have to click here and read my companion post at Christian Writers Downunder.
Great article, Iola – it’s so important to give your work over to someone else to read, but a big part of that is having a spirit that is willing to hear what has been said about your writing. Thanks for your wisdom!
Yes – there is no point in asking for feedback if you’re not prepared to hear what’s been said. Thanks for the tip!
Thank you. Good solid advice.
You’re welcome. Thanks for visiting 🙂
Great feedback on feedback, Iola. I think having that teachable spirit is so important. I’ve seen that through my own writing and also through manuscripts I’ve edited. It’s always up to the individual which bits of feedback they’ll take on board and which ones they won’t (sometimes for good reason like that Genesis comp example you gave). But occasionally I’ve come across someone who has been resistant to feedback from the outset. No matter how much experience we have, we can all learn and grow, and we need to be able to weigh up feedback with God’s help. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
I’ve come across a few authors who have been resistant to feedback as well. But most are more than willing to learn, and they are the writers it”s fun to work with.